Coast rugby rivals join forces to provide teams for forgotten juniors
The Nerang Bulls and Gold Coast Eagles have joined forces to launch a revolutionary initiative to increase opportunities to play for juniors at their clubs.
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The Nerang Bulls and Gold Coast Eagles have joined forces to launch a revolutionary initiative to increase opportunities to play for juniors at their clubs.
The two clubs have signed a memorandum of understanding to form ‘Flying Bulls’ composite sides to ensure no player is turned away from the code because of inadequate numbers at their club.
The club which supplies the most players to each Flying Bulls side will wear their own jerseys with the shorts and socks of the minority club.
Similar undertakings have occurred in the past but were never part of a formalised agreement between the clubs.
“The ultimate goal is to keep kids playing rugby,” Eagles president Jason Terens said.
“We were staring down the barrel of not many numbers and wanted to give people confidence they could come and register and we’d be able to give their kids an opportunity to play. What we don’t want is five kids from one club and six kids from another all being turned away because neither side has enough to make a team.
“Instead of letting those 11 boys or girls go find something else to do we can pull together to form a team and let the kids play.”
Nerang Bulls junior co-ordinator Dion Lemming said the arrangement would last one year as a trial period but would be re-examined next season.
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“If the region can see we are willing to band together as clubs to make rugby healthier and stronger, we hope it will have a wider effect and more kids will join up,” he said.
“We’ve set this partnership up not because of dwindling numbers in rugby but the relationship between our junior co-ordinators. If you have nearly enough numbers for a team and we have numbers, we’ll do that and combined we’ll make up all age groups.
It gives parents options to sign up at their own club and still have a viable team.”
The Bulls and Eagles were the first- and second-most affordable junior rugby clubs on the Gold Coast for under-six talents. The Griffith University Knights and Casuarina Beach Barbarians were the most affordable clubs for under-eights to under-17s.
To see the full list head to goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/rugby/
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